


Exhaustion

by i_amthecosmos



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Carlos works for a vet, Hurt/Comfort, Jay taking care of Carlos, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Sad Carlos, mentions of dog death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_amthecosmos/pseuds/i_amthecosmos
Summary: Carlos has a horrible night at work. Jay tries to take care of him. From the h/c bingo square "job-related trauma'.
Relationships: Jay/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	Exhaustion

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing nothing but wips for months, and all of them au's to boot. So here's a return to a version of canon, or close to it anyway.

Jay came home late, after a few beers with his Tourney teammates, and found Carlos huddled in a chair. “Los? I’m sorry I was out so late, I’m not drunk, it was just...wait. Carlos?” 

Carlos whimpered, turning to face Jay. Jay noticed he was still in his scrubs from his job at the vet, and that there was blood on them. “Oh baby, what happened?” Carlos was crying, arms around his waist. Jay knelt down to his level. “Talk to me.” 

Carlos’s voice trembled. “We tried so hard,” he said, and Jay closed his eyes. “It was a mixed breed dog, she had been hit by a car. We worked on her for hours-a woman brought her in. It wasn’t even her dog, but she said she’d pay whatever it cost to save her.” 

“Did she hit the dog?” Carlos shook his head. 

“She said she didn’t, and her car was clean, from what I could see. She saw the accident and brought her in.” Jay wanted to hug Carlos, but he was still covered in gore. “I wish we could’ve done more.”

“Well right now, I have to take care of you. Take that stuff off and put it in a bag-you should’ve gotten dressed at work.” Carlos tried to say something, but Jay was firm. “Nope, take that off and I’ll meet you in the shower.” He went to get a garbage bag for the clothes. 

When he got back, Carlos had taken everything off and put it in the bag. Jay just wanted to throw them away-they didn’t even look like they could be washed. He got them and put them on the back porch while Carlos started the shower. 

Jay got in with him. Carlos was hunched over himself, letting the water run down his back. “I don’t know if I can do this,” he said, his voice shaking. “I know I want to be a vet, but sometimes it’s so hard. She was such a pretty girl. She didn’t try to bite us, even when she was scared.” 

Jay pulled Carlos in, holding him close. “At least she died with people who cared about her and wanted to help her,” Jay said. “She trusted you to fix her.”

“And then we couldn’t!” Carlos broke then, sobbing in his arms. “I don’t know, why do I even try, I hate what I do right now. It’s not enough.” 

“I know baby, I know, but you make a difference. You work at a low-cost clinic to help animals that wouldn’t get care otherwise. You go on vaccination drives. You do so much. All I do is play Tourney. And for some reason everyone thinks that makes me a god. But you’re doing something that helps.” 

“I know, but I just...” Carlos sobbed. “I hate nights like tonight. Maybe I should have just stayed with computers. That way I wouldn’t see things like tonight. I’d just stare at a screen all day.” 

“I know, like you were on the Isle, with your experiments,” Jay said softly. “You created your own world, so you wouldn’t be hurt. And in a way, if you became a computer whiz, it would be the same. But being a vet is reaching out. It’s taking part in the world. And sometimes it hurts.” 

“Yeah,” Carlos pulled back a little, and Jay looked at his blotchy face. “It does. And I know I’ll go back tomorrow and do it again. I can’t help it.” Jay kissed him, then cupped his cheek. 

“I know you will. You never stop trying. And I know this is the worst thing that can happen there.” Jay watched as another sob shuddered through Carlos’s body. “But you have a lot of good things from your job. I know you really love the animals you treat. Do you think it’s still worth it?”

“I don’t know. I think so. Maybe I just need to go to bed.” Carlos turned around and got the soap. Jay let him clean up, then turned off the water. They dried off, and then went to bed. Dude was already there, curled on the bed. He was gray around the muzzle now, but he wagged his tail when he saw Carlos. 

Carlos just staggered into bed, curling under the covers and falling asleep. Jay put on underwear and went to the kitchen. After eating some cold leftovers from the bowl in front of the open fridge, he came back. Carlos was making some noise in his sleep, so Jay got in with him. 

“It’s okay,” he said, curling around Carlos. “Shhh.” Carlos quieted as his nightmare seemed to fade, and Jay kissed his shoulder. 

When Jay woke up the next morning, he could hear the shower running. He looked over to see Dude in Carlos’s spot on the bed. He sat up, stretching his arms overhead, and then went to the bathroom. 

“Hey,” Carlos said from the shower. “I have to go in this morning.” 

“Okay,” Jay said. “Are you okay to go in?” There was a pause. 

“I think so,” Carlos said. “And I have to be there. I don’t want the place to be short handed.” Jay wished he could see Carlos’s face, to see if he was lying. He came closer, and peeked around the shower curtain. 

Carlos glared at him. “I’m fine, really. Don’t get in here, I don’t want to get distracted and be late.” 

“I’m not trying to seduce you, I’m just worried. You were broken up last night, are you really okay to go in?” 

“I’m...as good as I’ll ever be, I guess.” Carlos put his hands to his face, rubbing his temples. “Getting some sleep helped. You helped. But now I have to go and face another day. I hope there’s just spoiled little dogs who need their shots and nothing else.” 

“Yeah. Hope so too.” Jay was prepared to try to stop Carlos from going in if he thought it would be too much. But Carlos wouldn’t like that. And anyway, his boyfriend was an adult. Jay had to let him take care of himself. 

“Okay. So if you’re fixing any coffee, get me some. Other than that, just let me get ready.” Jay grinned a little. Carlos was always grumpy in the morning, at least that was normal. Then he left and went to start the coffee.

Carlos joined him in the kitchen a few minutes later. Jay handed him his coffee in a to-go mug and a protein bar. “Thanks. I have to go.” Carlos went to get his keys. 

“Hey,” Jay said. “Why don’t we get another dog? We could go by the shelter this weekend.” Jay hadn’t planned to say that, but it seemed like the right thing. Carlos was sad, he was tired, maybe they needed another dog to make him happy. 

Carlos stared at him. “I don’t know. I don’t want to rush into a decision like that. We don’t have a big enough place for a lot of dogs.”

“We don’t need a lot,” Jay said. “Maybe just one more. We can just go by and see them. Anyway, I should let you go. Try to have a good day.” 

Carlos smiled then, just faintly. “Okay. I’ll see you tonight.” Then Carlos came closer, and kissed Jay’s cheek. “I have to go.” 

“Okay. I’ll see you tonight.” Jay watched as his boyfriend hurried away. After a while, he heard Carlos’s car start. 

Jay got the orange juice, drinking it out of the carton. He’d meant what he said, he would like another dog. And maybe with a second little furry baby around, it would help Carlos deal with the hard parts of his job. He already had to deal with so much. 

He finished off the orange juice and then went to sit down. He wanted to do what was best for Carlos, even as he flung himself into his work in order to forget his stress from work. It was quite the cycle. 

Jay got up, stretched his arms overhead, then went to get his sweats on for his run.


End file.
